Hydrangea complete... almost

This is the last scan I took of the Hydrangea, and I had thought it was done, though the scanned continues to drop out some of the deeper tones, so it looks much flatter than it does on the wall. Having said that it is quite a good exercise to look at it this way, because it showed up that I needed to deepen and darken some shadows and sharpen up some outlines, and the finished piece looks much better for it. It looks stronger and crisper and I will drop down and get a good scan of it next week when I visit the printers for a few things and will post the scanned image then.
The following two drawings, which I admit are difficult to see in these images, but I work very lightly in the early stages so it is easier to erase and doesn't interfere with the work or damage the surface of the paper. For a while now I have been looking at different blossoms on fruit trees and I love the juxtaposition of the beautiful delicate flowers against, what is usually quite a gnarly and twisted bark. They are also quite spring like to me, even though they don't usually bloom is spring, but I love them so I am getting stuck in.
I have had two photos of some blooms and have been busy doing drawings and plans and going back to my colour swatches and am well along the way with both. I have the watercolour complete on the small bloom and have even started laying down the first touches of pencil, while the second is much more complex so the watercolour is still progressing. I am trying to spend more time over the watercolour and really use it to put some of the tonal scale in place to make the pencil work quicker and also so I can work in a much clearer fashion, not getting confused by which leaf is which, or which petal starts where, which is the normal situation. I also put a lot more thought into composition and how I can best suggest the rest of the tree. I will post the watercolour progress as soon as they are done. Happy creativity to all for the weekend!